Internet Bonsai Club
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

Large Taxus cuspidata

+24
marcus watts
jeffrey
Tona
sabamiki
Auballagh
BrianLarson
moyogijohn
kauaibonsai
Storm
rolandp
Jesse
Lee Brindley
pongsatorn.k
shimsuki
Jose Acuña
ogie
martin kolacia
Harleyrider
Ian Warhurst
sitarbonsai
Paul Landis
AlainK
Mario Stefano
Pavel Slovák
28 posters

Page 2 of 3 Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Pavel Slovák Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:48 pm

Hi Marcus.
Thanks for an interesting comment. Yes, you can, change styling. Maybe you, maybe Ryan, Lee and perhaps maybe even more. But for me, this tree is ok. My idea is not conducted primarily on dead wood. For me it is the intention trunk direction. movement and space. Dead wood only adds and composition starts from the right side to the left side. But as you write, change is possible for anyone. Very Happy

Greetings Pavel
Pavel Slovák
Pavel Slovák
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  adam1234 Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:54 pm

marcus watts wrote:hi Lee,

every tree has one outstanding and 'most valuble' (not monetary) feature. This taxus shows age and interest because it has a powerfull base and a lovely deadwood feature on the right.

the job of the styler is to make the most of this feature and to make sure the viewer is drawn to it while still enjoying the entire tree - it is about how your eye follows the tree - where you want to look, where you are drawn to look etc, and more importantly where you should look -it has nothing to do with if the wood is bleached etc . This tree has its best natural feature to the right - the trunk/ planting angle used is very left, the long primary branch and all long branches are going left and the bulk of the apex is also on the left - so every part of the design now makes you look away from the best natural feature the tree had. Remember the bits we wire, style, move etc, and the planting angle can be basically put in the best place to enhance the best bits given to us at the start

To have this shown and explained was a revelation after so many years in this hobby - because it really works and the difference between a harmonious design and an 'uncomfortable' one become clearly seen once you look at a whole tree rather than just areas - The demo Ryan did yesterday on a cuspidata could have been very simple as there was an obvious cascade but the best bit of the tree was on the right (natural deadwood) and all the trunk and green bits were way off to the left and hanging down low. He told us the obvious design is not always the best design so it took great skill and confidence to move the foliage and trunk back towards the deadwood, up higher and towards the front - it was bonsai styling on another level.

hope this explains my first comment lee.

cheers Marcus


Hi Marcus,

I understand what you are saying and I agree with you in the principle but as you say confidence might be required. The client might not be happy with changing the design drastically and so an agreement has to be in place or even taste changed. Pavel might have had several ideas all excellent and the client might have chosen this one amongst the lot. If I was the owner of the tree and taken the tree to pavel, I would have said "I like the deadwood and base, so whatever you choose as the design focus on this". The reason being that the tree will sit in my garden with me staring at it for quite some time. Maybe you could offer a virtual to illustrate your point. As someone who is starting out on bonsai, and I am a complete novice, my primitive idea (If I was forced to give a style of the tree at gunpoint) would be to reduce the height of the tree by creating deadwood at the top, just enough to complement the bottom deadwood and make the movement towards the lower deadwood as you have suggested. A compact design, synergy between two deadwood areas with balance of foliage in the centre towards the lower. But, this is me who is a complete novice and given the choice I would be happy with pavel's design at this early stage of my bonsai learning because he is more experienced than I am and maybe my taste needs to mature and develop and my wild inner self needs to be tamed. I like design that wow though, so I really don't know and I am in agreement with you on your analysis of the tree. If I am out of place here commenting as a novice and there are the more experienced then I am sorry and just consider this as ignorance on my part.

Cheers,
Adam

adam1234
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  tmmason10 Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:45 pm

Great progression Pavel. I like how you keep your topics updated. Mireks collection is extremely impressive.

tmmason10
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Lee Brindley Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:50 pm

marcus watts wrote:hi Lee,

every tree has one outstanding and 'most valuble' (not monetary) feature. This taxus shows age and interest because it has a powerfull base and a lovely deadwood feature on the right.

the job of the styler is to make the most of this feature and to make sure the viewer is drawn to it while still enjoying the entire tree - it is about how your eye follows the tree - where you want to look, where you are drawn to look etc, and more importantly where you should look -it has nothing to do with if the wood is bleached etc . This tree has its best natural feature to the right - the trunk/ planting angle used is very left, the long primary branch and all long branches are going left and the bulk of the apex is also on the left - so every part of the design now makes you look away from the best natural feature the tree had. Remember the bits we wire, style, move etc, and the planting angle can be basically put in the best place to enhance the best bits given to us at the start

To have this shown and explained was a revelation after so many years in this hobby - because it really works and the difference between a harmonious design and an 'uncomfortable' one become clearly seen once you look at a whole tree rather than just areas - The demo Ryan did yesterday on a cuspidata could have been very simple as there was an obvious cascade but the best bit of the tree was on the right (natural deadwood) and all the trunk and green bits were way off to the left and hanging down low. He told us the obvious design is not always the best design so it took great skill and confidence to move the foliage and trunk back towards the deadwood, up higher and towards the front - it was bonsai styling on another level.

hope this explains my first comment lee.

cheers Marcus


Thanks for the explanation, Marcus. Some very interesting points, but personally I see this tree quite differently. Although the tree's movement is to the left, the space around the upper area of deadwood initially draws my eye there, and then the right hand branches lead my eye down to the lower area of deadwood there.
Regards, Lee.
Lee Brindley
Lee Brindley
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Lee Brindley Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:55 pm

marcus watts wrote:hi Lee,

every tree has one outstanding and 'most valuble' (not monetary) feature. This taxus shows age and interest because it has a powerfull base and a lovely deadwood feature on the right.

the job of the styler is to make the most of this feature and to make sure the viewer is drawn to it while still enjoying the entire tree - it is about how your eye follows the tree - where you want to look, where you are drawn to look etc, and more importantly where you should look -it has nothing to do with if the wood is bleached etc . This tree has its best natural feature to the right - the trunk/ planting angle used is very left, the long primary branch and all long branches are going left and the bulk of the apex is also on the left - so every part of the design now makes you look away from the best natural feature the tree had. Remember the bits we wire, style, move etc, and the planting angle can be basically put in the best place to enhance the best bits given to us at the start

To have this shown and explained was a revelation after so many years in this hobby - because it really works and the difference between a harmonious design and an 'uncomfortable' one become clearly seen once you look at a whole tree rather than just areas - The demo Ryan did yesterday on a cuspidata could have been very simple as there was an obvious cascade but the best bit of the tree was on the right (natural deadwood) and all the trunk and green bits were way off to the left and hanging down low. He told us the obvious design is not always the best design so it took great skill and confidence to move the foliage and trunk back towards the deadwood, up higher and towards the front - it was bonsai styling on another level.

hope this explains my first comment lee.

cheers Marcus


I guess you are talking about this (about 50 mins in)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEfke0XAag0
Lee Brindley
Lee Brindley
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Andrew Campbell Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:11 am

Marcus I completely understand your point. What Ryan Neil said is a revelation to me also, although I wasn't there and have only seen the video. I believe the Japanese Yew in Ryan's video's best feature was the deadwood which is why he did exactly as you say and drew the eye to the large area up top. However I don't think the best feature on Pavel's tree is the deadwood. I think the deadwood in this tree is more of a complement to the rest of the design, rather than the dominating focal feature of Ryan's.
Andrew Campbell
Andrew Campbell
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Vance Wood Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:45 pm

Andrew Campbell wrote:Marcus I completely understand your point. What Ryan Neil said is a revelation to me also, although I wasn't there and have only seen the video. I believe the Japanese Yew in Ryan's video's best feature was the deadwood which is why he did exactly as you say and drew the eye to the large area up top. However I don't think the best feature on Pavel's tree is the deadwood. I think the deadwood in this tree is more of a complement to the rest of the design, rather than the dominating focal feature of Ryan's.

I agree, with this tree the deadwood is more like the cherry on a chocolate sundae whereas the deadwood on Ryan's tree is a major component. Both are great trees mostly because they use their best features to their best design capability. There is a subtile use of deadwood that many cannot get a grasp on. Too often we see trees that have more meaningless deadwood just for the deadwood's sake, and because of this, the tree kind of stands there like a four year old on a street corner looking for its mother, lost in the clutter of everything that is going on around it.
Vance Wood
Vance Wood
Member


Back to top Go down

Large Taxus cuspidata - Page 3 Empty Re: Large Taxus cuspidata

Post  Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Page 2 of 3 Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum